Quandary with the Driver...

Sunday 30/1/11 Got into the Pro shop early in the day and picked up the Rippa Driver to head off and have a try out also selected another Scorcher 10.5 degree Driver to have a hit with as well. This had a firmer shaft flex than the square head Rippa and a club head similar shape to the Cobra.




Set up and hit 40 balls in the try out session in lots of 5. The Rippa was easy as before and this time I had more control over the fade/slice and got a good enough grouping. Average distance 210 metres Was fine and hit one perhaps 240 m but it was a real effort and a low percentage of success and would be a disaster to try in a comp round. Not to forget the whole purpose of trying out the regular flex drivers is to have a club that I can use when my back is starting to feel the strain of too much golf and I need to wind back the effort in playing Drives in particular.



The Scorcher took a little adjusting to after using the Rippa being a very different shaft. Had to put a little more effort into hitting the ball as the stiffer shaft required more swing speed. Accurate offf the tee in a few shots the average distance was 220 m with this club. It was more acceptable and comfortable to use, being so similar to the Cobra Driver. The quandary is that I am looking for a club to use when giving the injury flare ups a respite and recovering when I do have the misfortune to over do golf.

Yet the Scorcher feels better in my hands, but I now want to try it with a more flexible shaft as the shaft is too firm for the purpose required.



Even though I use the driver for 12 to 16 shots in a round depending on the course, the only times I ever aggravate existing injuries is with this club. I have a good grasp of what I can and cannot get away with in my golf game in regard to the various permanent damages of past events upon my body. Pacing myself is a definite feature of my preparing for future games. This year I have been progressing towards the March Southern Ports Tournament using the same training program I did for last seasons attempt. My fitness though is markedly improved since that effort 12 months ago, added with the benefits of no longer smoking and including a diet regime in the two months prior to the comp as well to assist in my crack at the title. Having dropped in handicap to “B” grade the improved fitness has been a definite aid in recent weeks for score and stamina in rounds. Currently playing off 17 and having played to 12/14 and 15 in recent weeks in competition I am now winding back to preserve my body in the last four weeks prior to the 3 round tournament.



The grand thing about golf is that I can play it successfully and competitively with minimal discomfort and most important, win on my own merits. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em Straight all” Geoff

Regular Flex or Stiff Flex Driver...

Friday 28/1/11 Had a day off the course and enjoyed catching up with some book work and did nothing more than a little pitching practise with the net. Did consider heading to the practise fairway and hitting a few long irons, chose to hold that over until tomorrow and instead headed to the pro shop and tried out some new drivers.




Still happy with the Cobra S9.1 (stiff Flex) it works well enough, this was a moment taken to try out some regular flex drivers after my experience with the using the #3 Metal while recovering from the back injury. Got a good swing rythym happening and hit 25 balls, alternating with 5 balls with the Cobra (9.5) then 5 with a Rippa 10.5 Square Head driver. The two felt totally different hitting the ball and the regular flex club did feel “softer” in my hands. The Rippa drives mostly faded in the begining. Then I settled down and hit 5 of the best I could with each.



One ball from each club was the best possible booming straight drive I could work for in a game. The Rippa still felt gentler and even more responsive to working shots with it. The Cobra was it’s usual effective steady self as I have became used to over 12 months.The solid hits with it were brutal in comparison to the Rippa.



Tomorrow I am going to go and have another solid try out with the Rippa and see if I can get the fade out of the shots. Distance wise it was the same with either club, as the back injuries are always going to occur from time to time I am convinced that getting a regular flex driver in my collection of clubs is a must.



Not in any rush to choose and get the club yet but it is going to be the next purchase to give me the selection of clubs that will best suit my game requirements.



Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Queensland Floods scam email...

I delete the Nigerian scam emails but this one is the UGLY Australian email and don't get conned by the rhetoric. Here comes the nonsence from the right wing isolationist sector of Australia. Yes the morons who want the borders fenced, the internet censored and return to the days of black and white tv. The same people who parade around on Australia day wearing flags as caped and with beer pouring out their ears in celebration of the national public holiday. Then the rest of the year forget all about being Australian until the next day to have a party on.
"If the Government took 10% from each of these there would be enough for the flood victims. How does this work ? THE TOP EIGHT COUNTRIES THE AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT GAVE YOUR TAX DOLLARS TO IN 2010-2011


Indonesia $458,700.00 million


Papua New Guinea $457,200,00 million


Solomon Islands $225,700.00 million


Afghanistan $123,100.00 million


Vietnam $119,800.00 million


Philippines $118,100.00 million


East Timor $102,700.00 million


Cambodia $64,200.00 million


TOTAL = $ 1,669,000,000.00 - given away in 52 weeks


..but wait there’s more.


Australia provides approximately 150,000 tonnes of food aid every year—about $65 million—to Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Sudan and Chad
In 2005 John Howard committed Australia to double Australian aid to about $4 billion a year by 2010 because under his Prime Ministership we were in SURPLUS.


In 2010-2011 the Australian Government plans to spend almost $4.4 billion on development assistance.


In 2008 the Australian community contributed $812.19million to non-government organisations.
And now Gillard will give $500,000,000.00 for Indonesia’s Islamic schools


which are largely moderate in outlook but there have been pockets of radicalism that have produced terrorists in Indonesia, most notably the cleric Abu Bakar Bashir’s school in Ngruki, central Java, where some of the Bali bombers studied.


When insurers, such as Allianz and CGU, provide cover for storm damage but exclude flood from their home and contents policies.
And now Gillard is planning to impose a levy on all Australians to help pay for flood relief!!

YES THIS A BLOODY INSULT TO THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE WHO RIGHT NOW NEED IT THE MOST SO IT IS ABOUT TIME THE GOVERNMENT STARTED LOOKING AFTER THEIR OWN BACK YARD AND FORGET THE REST FOR A LONG TIME.
THIS IS BULL SHIT"
Yes it is Bullshit, of the worst kind. This worked very well for Hitler and the Nazi's so don't get duped by it today.

Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

Southern Ports Tournament preparations on target..

Thursday 27/1/11 Almost into the last 30 days before the first round of the Southern Ports Tournament. Preparations are still on track even with the injury disruption from the 9th of January, finally got into the Bowen Therapist on Tuesday and repaired the remaining damage still lingering. With a follow up next Friday to complete the treatment my physical condition will be tuned and in sync with my golf form again. Whilst recuperating the training was still maintained, increasing short game practise and physical training to accommodate the injury restriction.




The same as last season physical training for me is not too strenuous or complicated. Sticking with the low impact conditioning routines with a Chest Expander and set of Hand Grips has been especially effective again. I am not after building up strength of bulk these days, what I want is to develop stamina through excercise to avoid technique errors through tiredness. In this instance while carrying the back injury still during the 18 holes on Sunday my stamina did falter, due to not having my drinks bottle and ignoring the need for water in the heat. My pyhsical strength and condition was fine and the next day I put in a good practise session without any problem. After the Bowen treatment on Tuesday I managed a comfortable 9 holes and yesterday played 9 holes returning 6 pars, 2x bogies and 1x double bogie for a 40 off the stick.



Back to using the Cobra Driver and the lessons gained from causing the injury and only using the regular flex 3 Wood since off the tee delivered improved accuracy and distance with the return. I have also returned to using a set of irons with a firm flex instead of stiff and this was effective and less strenuous. I am still exploring this direction as an added equipment option and will have a Regular flex Driver to use in the near future. I do not spend a lot on golf equipment, Ebay is a particular golfing boon for me.

My decision was to look at getting a measured and matched set when reaching 15hcp. Currently the figure is 17 and I am most likely going to put off the purchase of the new set after I reach 12 hcp.



At the minute I have 3 iron sets, Wilson 1200 blades, Presto cavity backs and Ping Karsten look alike all 3 have been used in competition and have specific purposes in my golfing. The blades are specifically used to tune my game up, being a little too short for me I use them to test my technique in playing shots. I cannot hit my full distances with them without disastrous errors happening if I deviate from hitting the ball correctly. Cost of these delivered off Ebay $35, I do not agree 100% with the statement that only very good golfers can use blades. There was a time when this was all that was available and hackers had to use blades too so it is one of my ‘back to the future’ experiments which delivers good results for some facets of my golf. The Ping Karsten look alike irons are approx 25 years old are reshafted to suit me and again cost $35 with a bag included off Ebay. These were a particular set I looked for as they are the same as the set I used in the 1980’s, in 2009 I purchased a set of Shark cavity backs ($185) which were good until I reached 20hcp and the O/S clubhead and game improvement facets began to be a detriment to my game development. The Shark Stiff shafts are on the Karsten irons and the club heads were sold on Ebay. The Presto irons cost $99 and were bought just for the shafts yet I found that they were a good iron to use and I alternate between these and the “Karsten” copies in competition depending on the conditions.



It is a comment of non golfers that the game is too expensive to play, I disagree when comparing it to the cost of playing football (any code) and even being an active spectator. If your sports involvement is as a passive spectator and watching on tv and not going to games then golf is expensive. I see an annual membership cheaper than a gym membership and playing golf much more fun to do as excercise. Not to forget the thrill of competition. Thankyou for your time and attention, “Hit ‘em Straight all” Geoff

Camilo Villegas improved my game...

Monday 24/1/11 Got myself around the course yesterday for the first 18 hole round since injuring myself 2 weeks ago. 91 off the stick and 34 Stableford point was the result, with a wipe on the last hole a par 4 with 7 strokes. The new putter a Wilson 100 with a longer 37 inch shaft has been a major benefit to my game. Not at all disapointed with the result was flagging rapidly on the last two holes and simply ran out of energy. again my own fault, no prizes for guessing who forgot to take his water bottle with him on a hot day and was stupid enough to not have a drink while playing. Getting a drink did cross my mind during the round but one of my other faults when golfing interfered, I get so single minded I consciously don’t break out of the routine of playing to my detriment.




Made one particular change to my game since the injury, stopped using the Cobra Driver to enforce some much needed discipline on the tee. Used the No 3 Shark Metal off the tee and also on the fairway to good effect considering it has only recently been put back in the bag. Quite a confidence boost to be able to hit this club so well either straight or with a slight draw. This was one of my weaknesses when beginning, consistently slicing shots with most clubs, with disastrous results from the Driver/Fairway metals. In 2010 I watched an interview with Camilo Villegas and he was asked what his favourite golf club was? "I'd better love all 14. I eventually have to hit them all, and if I dislike one, I'll just get over the ball with a bad attitude, and the outcome won’t be great." I have adopted his reply and to good effect in my own game since then. Making a specific effort to have no preference and this has developed a greater confidence and wider spectrum of shots to choose from in a round.



The other point that has been raised from using the #3 Metal has been whether I should continue using Stiff shafts on my clubs. The #3 is a regular flex and with the effects of the back injury caused by playing too much and having one too many ‘Blood Rushes’ to the brain with a tee shot. I used it to enforce taking easy technically correct swings and not falling in to the “belt the cover off” fault. Being a little tentative top start the rythym soon came into my game again and an improved consistency and accuracy with the #3 metal off the tee and fairway.



I have since been to the pro shop and taken out a selection of regular flex irons for some comparison testing and there is a definite appeal to changing to regular flex irons. The first thing though is to get the driver choice sorted and I am going to stick with my irons as is while experimenting with Regular flex Drivers for a couple of weeks and see what eventuates. As regular readers from my 2010 post would recall I played with irons in 2009 choosing accuraccy over distance with great success in my first season of golfing again. That is still an underlying focus for my game development, yes I can hit 220 - 250m drives now. I would rather hit the fairways though and if using a regular flex driver shaft increases the % of this that is the deciding factor. Thankyou for your time and attention all, Hit ‘em Straight. Geoff

Standing tall again...

Wednesday 19/1/11 A little surprising to see a fortnight has passed between posts, even though the golfing has not stopped. There was a week long hiatus due to an injury sustained on the 9th of January while playing golf, of course.Following the same pre-Tournament Conditioning routine as last year for Southern Ports has been very effective. I am particularly chuffed with having scored the following 88,87,94,83,86 over the past 5 competition rounds. In general the practise and competition golf played by myself is spaced out to feather the various weaknesses from injury my body has sustained over the past 20 odd years. In preparing for the Southern Ports tournament and having to play 3 x 18 hole rounds in 5 days I make a specific effort to do this twice (December and January) before the actual tournament in the first week of March. Not usually a problem, this past month though I played several extra social rounds with visitors which unfortunately resulted in not giving my body enough time to recover.




As much as my current physical fitness is a huge improvement on 12 months ago, the chronic torn muscle injuries in my back cannot be repaired. To cover that I have strengthened the associated areas and still make a particular effort to “give it a rest” to take away the strain of repetitive use, which acerbates the injury. Unfortunately by being a “dickhead” and on the 2nd last hole of the day deciding to give the Tee shot a little more power, I over reached my capability and strained the old injury. So bloody stupid, was having a good round and swinging well, still managed to finish with an 86 yet the injury that I did to myself took me out of a 1st place finish. Ended up 3rd on a countback, no regrets but a well earned lesson to maintain concentration all the way through a round.



The benefits after this have been substantial, I have a very optimistic approach to life that’s got me this far, “taking the positives from any negative event affecting me.” In this case after 3 days of discomfort, there has been times much worse in the past, the ice, rest, heat treatment followed by a massage on Wednesday had the healing process almost complete. Only practised pitching and putting to Saturday and have played 3 x 9 hole rounds and back to 41-42 off the stick at the minute and no golf today. Can just feel a few tight spots and twinges in the injured area so time for some common sense rest.



The BIG bonus has been from “taking away a toy” in punishment for the stupidity that caused the injury. Not using the Cobra Driver off the tee since then, the 15 degree Shark XLT No. 3 metal needed some serious use as well and the loss of 20-40 m off the tee has been replaced by accuracy and consistent distance. Not to forget a much better swing tempo using a smooth easy golf technique not “seal clubbing” tendencies. The injury has stuffed up my long iron-mid iron progress yet with 6 weeks to go I should be able to get back on track with the plan to improve accurate approach shots and hit greens in regulation. Cannot see me going out of the “B” grade for the tournament now with the past 4 sub 90- results and can only practise more to be able to put in 3 x low 80 rounds in the tournament, if not break 80 to have a crack at winning the grade. Thankyou for your time and attention. “Hit ‘em Straight all”, Geoff

Humility and Good Sportmanship

Tuesday 4/1/11 A lesson in Humility and Good Sportsmanship was the result from a 9 hole Ambrose competition Monday afternoon. It is obvious to readers of my posts from the 2010 Season playing competitive golf and trying to win is a definite part of my enjoyment of the game. Enjoying social rounds and accepting the days when my game is not going to be good enough or so bad that it resembles a game of hockey played by someone who is deaf, dumb and blind is just as important to me.




During January the Club Professional is running a 9 hole 2 player Ambrose on Monday and Wednesday afternoons, $20 entry per team of two, complimentary sausage sizzle after the round. The Prizes are $100 voucher for First place and $50 Voucher for the runner up on each day. Plus NTP, a $50 Accommodation Voucher. All up they are what I call substantial prizes on offer and something that I will enter in and play as well as possible to try and win. Yesterday after 6 holes and missing a couple of birdie chances my partner and I were still square with the card, playing well enough to be enjoying the game and still in with a chance to come in under the card. As a pair of 18 and 19 handicap players, that in itself would have been a good enough reward for having a crack in the competition.



On the 7th hole my partner hit off first and faded onto another fairway with the requisite call of “fore”

to the players there, even though we did not see where the ball finished it was well placed enough from experience for the next shot to be from the adjacent fairway on the par 5. So I chose to take the risk and load up a bigger drive attempt, it went disaterously wrong and sailed out into the realms of the Bermuda Triangle never to be seen again. Unfortunately the first ball could not be found and the players on the fairway at the time had moved on to the green and were putting out. In our search to find the missing ball we did find another but after asking the other group they said it was not theirs and that was the end of our challenge for the competition.



It was about now that my temper began to rise, I can wear making mistakes in rounds that cost success. Unfortunately I do get into a very concentrated attitude when playing for a win and the frustration at losing a ball was enough to make me steam up. A little talking to myself and attitude adjustment during the walk to the next tee block, followed by a 260m drive took the edge off. It was a timely little lesson that reminded me of the period in 2010 when I had a several anger fuelled moments in practise rounds at the frustration of my game slowly becoming better.It was also a really good moment in showing how differently I approach playing social golf and competitive rounds.



My partner and I could have chosen to play the found ball and say nothing about it but did not choose the cheating path. It is interesting to be sitting here and realising how easily he cheating choice could have been justified, but morally I just could not do it. The thought of having played on as if nothing happened makes my guts go tight and is a very uncomfortable feeling. When watching a game of soccer and seeing players take “stage dive’s” for free kicks or penalty shots on goal I get the same feeling of umbrage at seeing blatant cheating. In soccer the umpire wears the bile of a crowd for paying a free kick, in golf it is up to a player or the marker of their card seeing a transgression. It was a good feeling to know that winning does not mean so much, that I would stoop to cheating.  “Hit ‘em Straight all” Thankyou for your time and attention, Geoff

2011 Tee'd off and loving it.....

Monday 3/1/11 First competition round of the new year has been played and the result was excellent. Finishing 2010 with the beginning of consistent form and sub 90 scores derived from the practise and persistence effort, I have been looking forward to the end of the holiday break and getting back on the course. Had my best ever official score off the stick in yesterdays stroke round, getting an 83 gross for a nett 64 with 27 putts for the day. It was a winning score for the competition and the expected revival of my “Handbrake” monicker in the clubhouse. It is all good natured stirring and something I look forward too as it was a little lacking for a few months in 2010 due to my lack of consistent success. Playing off 19 (18.6 exact) Sundays result should have me playing off 18 at least, the consistent effort of the last 4 weeks must recognise the summer conditions have a major influence on the lower scoring.




I am not the official club “Ned Kelly” icon after the weekend. A fellow golfer who had stated that this year he would be playing much less golf is facing true confusion. This bloke had several years ago practised, played and studied his golf with the dedication that only another golfer can understand in the quest to get a single figure handicap. Accepting the fact that he was never going to get below 12 the game has become an occasional social round and playing off a 22 hcp was enjoying his golf. On Saturday playing at Beachport in the New Year Cray Day carded a gross 76 for a Nett 54. Unable to come to the club for yesterday as it was a Lawn Bowls competition day, it is certain that the “Bushranger of 2011” is going to be his title for a long time. You just have to love a game that can come up and bite you on the @rse with a brilliant result as well as disastrous ones.



As is well known among regular readers, my first competition goal in 2011 is to play well and have a crack at winning the “B” Grade of the Southern Ports Golf Tournament. My entry fee and application has been posted and received, already the training regime that was used last season is in practise and with recent results working as well as it did in 2009/2010 also. After the struggle at times to play consistently in the mid-latter part of 2010 it is very satisfying to be realising the improvement in my game now, accepting the problems were nothing more than a transition period.



An absolute believer that there is no quick fix in establishing a golf game even though I knew it was going to be disheartening at times in 2010 did not make the experience any more pleasant. Now that period has past it is without any shame I can admit that the times where my anger exploded during solo practise rounds surprised me. Adhereing to the ‘gentleman’s’ (rules of golf) code of conduct in competition rounds became a focal point in 2010, for two reason not accepting the bad attitude and antics of others and telling them so, also made me even better behaved to prevent the disgrace of being a practising hypocrite.



Sitting here now it is hard to believe that the game I am producing at the minute is as good as it gets. My confidence is still developing after all it is a marked difference between the 25 Handicap for the same time last year and the 18 today. Still it is possible to improve more and that is a must in fact, needing to be able to play consistently to a 14-15 handicap to win the “B” grade of Southern Ports by the start date in the first week on March. Thankyou for your time and attention all, Have a great new year in 2011. “Hit ‘em Straight “Geoff